WINNIPEG — Some 31 years and four days later, the Winnipeg Jets have a chance Friday night to win a playoff series.

Digest that for a moment.

Winning a playoff round may not be a big deal in some NHL markets, but here? This is a city and a province that’s been craving it for a very long time.

Dale Hawerchuk had a goal and an assist on April 16, 1987 as the Jets finished off the Calgary Flames in Game 6, securing a first-round playoff series win. This market has not seen one since.

“It feels like forever ago but it seems like just yesterday, too,’’ Paul MacLean, who assisted on Hawerchuk’s goal that night in ’87, told The Athletic. And yes, the longtime Jets winger (1981-88) has a soft spot for the club watching them play this spring.

“These Jets have been an exciting team to watch all year,’’ said MacLean, a former Jack Adams Award winner. “They’re a consistent team, a deep team, just exciting to...